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An increasing number of young people are being diagnosed with emphysema, a type of lung disease often associated with smoking, an expert has revealed.

In patients with emphysema, the walls of the air sacs in the lungs are damaged, causing them to break apart and reducing the amount of oxygen absorbed into the blood.

According to Dr Keith Prowse, chairman of the British Lung Foundation, the condition is most commonly found in people in their 40s or older.

However, he revealed: 'We are seeing more and more…people [with emphysema] below the age of 30 who smoke cigarettes heavily and are into recreational drugs. And that is increasing.'

Dr Prowse noted that while smoking is a major risk factor, there are a number of genetic conditions that increase a person's risk of emphysema, including a condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, in which the lungs' defence against emphysema is 'almost obliterated'.

People with this genetic condition are more likely to develop emphysema in their 30s or 40s if they are non-smokers, but smoking means they may well develop the disease in their 20s.

The expert's comments follow the revelation that singer Amy Winehouse has been diagnosed with emphysema.